A wide variety of stegosaurs once inhabited North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia, but Wuerhosaurus is the only one currently known to have survived all the way into the Early Cretaceous period. Unfortunately, few fossils of this intriguing Chinese animal have been uncovered to date.
Xana the Wuerhosaurus measures just over 8 cm long. Like many of her fellow PNSO miniatures, she is sculpted in a relaxed walking pose, her head turned to the left and her tail held high and swinging to the right. Looks like she’s just out taking a peaceful morning stroll. Her main colour is mustard yellow with a faded underbelly, dark red spots, dark brown on her plates and spikes, and black and white eyes. Not as vibrant as the Kentrosaurus or the Tuojiangosaurus, but decent enough.
Xana’s skin has a wrinkly texture all over. Most of the wrinkles are small, but there are thicker ones lining her belly and the underside of her tail. The muscles in her neck, limbs, and tail are visible beneath the skin and her plates and spikes are covered in fine grooves. There certainly can be no question that these PNSO figures are among the best sculpted miniature dinosaurs.
The plates on Xana’s back are short and rectangular, which is unlike all other known stegosaurs. Her thagomizer is comprised of four stout spikes. Her head and neck look to be of reasonable proportion, and her feet have the correct number of toes for a stegosaur. All this is in keeping with most artistic depictions of Wuerhosaurus, as any Google image search will promptly demonstrate. However, the truth is that we really don’t have a good idea of what this animal looked like. Even the shape of the plates is in question, as it has been demonstrated that what was thought to be a rectangular plate was actually a broken one.
Until more fossils are found (and that could well be never), we can say that Xana is a fine rendition of what we think Wuerhosaurus might have looked like. I’m really enjoying this line so far. Keep up the good work, PNSO!
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Wuerhosaurus wasn’t the only stegosaur to
make it to the Early Cretaceous. Regnosaurus, Paranthodon, and Amargastegos all lived in the Early Cretaceous.
Awesome review man I bought all four PNSO Stegosaurid miniatures, also try to make a PNSO Miragaia review if you ever get the chance 🙂